Parenting alone can be stressful.
Add pets into the mix, and it may as well be a circus some days...
Who's charging admission?!
Make the transition easier, and learn why it is so important to address a positive co-existing relationship between animals and children.
Whether you are newly pregnant, have just welcomed your baby home, have a toddler, or even a teenager. HTP is here to help!
Preparing BEFORE baby arrives is especially helpful, to avoid mishap later on.
For older children, it's important to teach body language, and set up an age appropriate chore chart so they can be involved with care taking.
This helps to build a great foundation for mutual respect, boundaries, and even learning responsibility.
When bites happen, a child may be scarred physically, and emotionally. Not only that, but most people think that once an animal shows 'aggressive' behavior, they must be re-homed or even euthanized.
This, while maybe appropriate for some situations, is not often the right solution and should be avoided if at all possible.
Training the dog, or listening to the subtle cues of a cat, and teaching the child appropriate ways to interact (and not interact) can quite literally make the difference between life and death.
Expectant/ New Parents:
Some pets can be slow to adjust, and display unwanted behaviors, such as hostility, timidness, and aggression. Especially when bringing home a new baby! Or when newly mobile toddlers begin to intrude in their space!
New parents can feel overwhelmed providing for a new baby as well as taking care of their pets. It's a lot to handle! So having a plan of action before baby arrives is essential. Promoting bonding and safe interactions after baby is born, is also very important!
There is also a common matter of surrendering animals after the baby arrives.
You may feel you don't have the time for a pet anymore, you are overwhelmed, and you likely don't have the resources to help with transition. There are so many reasons that this can happen, and I would like to help you avoid this. Your pet is family. They just may need some help adjusting, as do you!
Current Parents:
FACT: All kids love animals. But, not all animals love kids. Or even adults for that matter.
50% of all dog bite victims are under the age of 12.
While cat bites are less common, they can be equally as dangerous and pose a serious infection risk.
When these incidences occur, it can throw a huge wrench in the family.
As now, a child is injured and traumatized, and the dog or cat's life is potentially, and very regretfully, ended.
That being said, I firmly believe these situations above ARE preventable.
*View one mother's courageous story on dog bite responsibility HERE.
My goal:
To provide you with the knowledge and resources needed to help keep your family together, and safe.
Through years of studying and experience, I have helped families by supporting a positive pet owner/ parenting relationship to avoid conflict, injury or re-surrendering of their pets to a shelter.
I completed my Certificate in Dog Bite Prevention to teach pet owners, parents, and kids how to be safe around animals.
From crate training, to reading body language, teaching calm on command, and even implementing safety zones.... There are no limits in how to prevent conflict and bites between the family cat or dog, and your child.
As a part of each consultation you will fill out a detailed questionnaire, which gives me an inside look at problem areas, the pet's behavior and medical history, and current situations needing to be addressed.
I will give a thorough walk-through of the space (sometimes virtually!), address dynamics within the household, go over the pet's behavioral history, and evaluate anything that could be problematic or even dangerous.
*If you are a parent, thinking of adopting a pet for your child: a Pre- Adoption Consultation can help you pick the appropriate one for age and lifestyle, as well as assist in creating a chore plan for care-taking of the animal. Please, do not rely on your child to walk the dog daily after school by themselves, this is not an appropriate task.
With this information, I will then create an outline and set forth a Pawsitively Safe Success Plan for your family to follow, so you and your pet(s) can have HAPPY TRAILS!
